CHAPTER I
The Court jester was in a unusually foul mood. Working for 3 days to repair the fire damaged stables had soured his latest prank and soiled more than just his clothes. "Shouldn't have used a live chicken"; Rinbin mumbled; "days of toiling like a peasant, banned from the court and demoted to a common fool. It's not my fault! Oh woe is poor Rinbin."
So absorbed in his own misery, Rinbin never saw what hit him. For from behind, the heavy weight of a ram knocked him to the muddy street, followed by a buxom tavern wench in fast pursuit, who used his buttocks as a stepping stone while she ran madly down the street after the goat. Meanwhile, from the shadows
CHAPTER II
a sinister character witness all of this and still did not understand what was happening, but did laugh a bit about a buttocks being used as a step. As he stepped forward from the shadows he spoke "What great things here give so much shadow upon me!" Then he also remembered the rules and said to himself "so many rules make unhappy"
CHAPTER III
But the character from the shadows had other business to attend. He had to scout the castle walls. He had already been paid for the deed now he must do it, and tonight, tonight would be the night. The assassin was hesitant to take the job for he had nothing against his target, the king, but then again he had nothing against the hundred or so other poor souls he killed. The payment had already been made anyways, or half of it at least, and with another 1k gold dragons he would be a rich man indeed.
CHAPTER IV
With most of the peasant rabble and castle guard on the street watching the young lass and her goat, and the rest laughing at the muddy fool, the sinister man realized these walls would never be more unguarded.
Slipping behind a stack of ale barrels, and casually turning a corner, he broke into a quick trot. A few breaths later found him looking at the 20 foot outer wall. "Weathered, with handholds"; he thought to himself. With a glance at the guard booth, he placed a hand on the stone, and felt a small shift in the surface. "I can't climb here" he though disappointedly, as a small amount of the surface crumbled under his palm, "I must look elseware..."
After what seemed like an eternity, he found it! A small door on the west side, barely in view of the closest guard shack. Judging from the smell it was an old access to the kitchen larder. A quick glance at the hinges and the ground around it, showed him it's frequent use. Easy to access for one of his skill. Noticing the clamor had died down, and hearing voices coming closer, he slipped away, vowing to return that very night.
CHAPTER V
With the 1k Gold dragons from the initial half payment, he had enough for practically a thousand beers from the local tavern, but he settled for one, to ensure full ability that night. Entering the low roofed grimy tavern made him slightly regretful, as he instantly noticed he'd just used the only visible entrance. "One tankard of the beer of the house, if you please," he instructed the wispy barmaid, sporting several visible bruises and contusions. She brought the tankard and he flipped her a coin, as he noticed an additional hand-print bruise about her neck. He settled down dwelling on possibilities for the assassination, plotting as the light from the windows slowly darkened.
CHAPTER VI
The night crept on til the bar closed. With no where to go, but still too much light out, he hid in an empty barrel, where he slowly started to doze off.
CHAPTER VII
He fell into a deep sleep where he failed to overhear Rinbin making good on a bet he lost to Grivus. "...I swear, I had nothing to do with the cow. It was the chicken that caused all the trouble. Anyway. the barkeep said to help you load up the barrels so you can use them out on your archery range. Some have spoiled wine or beer so the weights may vary. We'll see just how good your instructions are to this new crop of archers you boost so much about. I might even be willing to make a wager or two as to how many arrows they can stick into a rolling barrel before it lands in the river." With that the lid to the barrel our shadowman was slid shut and rolled out the door and onto a waiting wagon were it would join others at the archery range soon.
CHAPTER VIII
The next day bloomed clear and bright, drawing crowds from all over the Kingdom, to witness the test of the best archers. As King DiNK addressed his subjects, fair Princess Bron strode boldly onto the field, dressed in full battle armour. Taken aback, The King asked His Daughter what she was doing.
Good, kind King and respected Father, princess Bron began. For all these years we women have been set about tasks of chasing livestock and fowl, to set them upon your table as DINNER!. Do you not think that those same skills will not pay us all in the fight with our evil FOE? I and my sisters of the Kingdom, challenge your Knights in training to the test of the barrels.
CHAPTER IX
King Dink agreed, he asked his daughter what the bet shall be. Princess Bron said that if the women won they would have the option to join the the army and become full members of the local N.R.A. (newly recruited archers assoc.). And should they lose they would return to the kitchens, goat farms, and horse stables. So the King ordered the barrels unloaded from the wagons and let the games begin. Meanwhile still in the barrel is the shadow man, completly passed out, because the barrel he was hiding in was used to haul wine in and when the lid was sealed the fumes became so strong that it intoxicated the shadowman so badly he was passed out. As they unloaded the barrel one of the men lost his grip and the barrel crashed to the ground breaking to peices and our shadowman was no longer in the shadows.
CHAPTER X
The man who was unloading the barrels screamed in fright and ran away babbling. Another man who was helping saw the shadowman and pierced his heart with a dagger. The assassin, now in his death throws, motioned for the man who had stabbed him to lean over and to hear his final words. The man leaned over and only caught the last of the shadowman's words which were, "..kill the king, the man that has it all but yet has nothing." He told King Dink, who was so shocked by these words that he ordered the contest to be postponed and the surrounding lands to be searched for any more crazed assassins
CHAPTER XI
"Find them! Kill them! Hurt them!" King Dink ordered to his knights. "Let no stone rest until this shadow has been lifted from my kingdom!"
Turning to his daughter Bron, he declared all members of N.R.A back into the castle while the real hunters searched the woods for more crazed assassins. While being herded back into the castle, the angry Princess could be heard joking quite loudly about her father "letting stones rest", and complaining that he would be nothing without her.....
Shaking his head sadly, King Dink watched his angry daughter as she disappeared into the castle. As her curses and crude jokes faded into the distance, he motioned for a thin, reedy man in a grey cloak to approach him. "Rastiflan, my friend, I want you to infiltrate the neighboring kingdom of Domlittle. King Dominic is known to have hired some expensive mercenaries, and this incident is very much like something he would do."
"As you wish, my lord", Rastiflan said with a slight lisp. "Your spymaster will obey."
"Good, now be off with you." King Dink turned away, rubbing his bald head as he often did when he was deep in thought.
As his man-at-arms rode up, the king looked around at the gathered peasantry, who's fun and merriment had been rudely interrupted, he couldn't help but think of what's next
CHAPTER XII
on his agenda.
He decided that it had been a long day, and whent up to his alaborate room to go to bed. After laying down, he soon fell into deep sleep, on his matress that had been filled with the softest of goose feathers.
Meanwhile, Rastiflan went down to his small room in the servants quarter.
Most of the kings advisors, and important aquaintences, lived in their own nice homes within the great walls of the kingdom, but as he was the King's best spymaster, he wanted to be as close to the King as possible in the case of a great emergancy.
As soon as Rastiflan got to his humble little room, he set to work planning the infiltration of the kingdom of Domlittle.
He, as the head spymaster, had his own little team of lower spymasters to do his biding, and he planned to inclued them, in order to go through with his alaborate scheme.
He thought all night on how to infiltrate Domlittle. He had done so before, but since then, King Domiic had increased his number of knights guarding the outer wall. And his archers had recently been increased in number. But Rastiflan
CHAPTER XIII
thought best he use a clever disguise. Who best to enter a city than a rogue he thought to himself.
Rastiflan clean shaven dressed in modest garb to hide his true self. He set out following a caravan of traveling musicians who were leaving the archery tourney. Their journey was to always follow the coin which luckily for Rastiflan was to Valia, reigned by King Domiic who would be celebrating his 43rd Birthday in a fortnight.
What better way to infiltrated a feast for a king than dressed as a
CHAPTER XIV
shark with no underpants . Everyone laughed and no one suspected anything , they just thought he was a hired joker until the last moment when he pulled of his deadly stunt of kissing the queen . He left without a trace and proceeded to
CHAPTER XV
the shed about a hundred yards away. Or at least he thought it was a shed, for it turned out to be a crate. This crate was right next to the seaport and it was labeled, "paper and ropes: send on westward voyage". By the time Rastiflan woke up it was too late. Greva Darn ordered the workers to load the crate onto the ship and it had already undocked. Soon, Rastiflan realized he was in big trouble. He could be hundreds of miles away from land, and he didn't want to disappoint King Dink. He had to think of a solution, and fast. After some time, he decided to
CHAPTER XVI
call out for Bellisaurus. Commander of the Legio V, Macedonia.
The sky darkened. Thunder clapped. The sky shimmered and then split open. General Belisaurus leading his Buceliari galloped into the plain.
He stopped. Raised the visor on his Roc Plummed Helm and grinned.
He turned and looked at his massive personal bodyguard, Anasthasia and said, "what the (Beeeeeep)? Where is this?"
Anasthasia replied with a shrug, "dunno boss."
Just then, the General's grizzled other guard, Valentian, rode up and said, "It's a trap! Let's get out of here!"
CHAPTER XVII
Just then General Barrkas rode up with 7 rogues. It turned out Barrkas hadn't been killed after he turned good! He was now a champion! They battled the 8 space marines. The rouges weren't ready for this! Thankfully they had 1,528 Watchfires, giving them a HUGE attack boost through it's strengthening smoke! Eventually they were all down. Bellisaurus approached Hasburuddal struggling out from under his horse. "Evil always prevails," he said with a malicious grin. He prepared to stab him, but then the rogues all jumped out from under their cloaks to reveal shining armor! They whistled, and 7 Champion's horses all came galloping up! The momentary distraction gave Barrkas enough time to...
